Chronicle: The Caucasus In the Year 2015 January 3 January 2015 The Georgian Ministry of Defense says that Defense Minister Mindia Janelidze spent New Year’s Eve with Georgian soldiers at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan 6 January 2015 The Russian military says Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkmenistan will hold joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea for the first time in June and July 2015 7 January 2015 Azerbaijani authorities arrest ten men accused of taking part in militant activity with connections to Syria 7 January 2015 Georgia reports 5.49 million visits by foreign citizens in 2014, a slight increase in comparison with the previous year 8 January 2015 A man sets himself on fire in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku for reasons unknown in a street where the authorities have demolished old buildings in the last few months 12 January 2015 Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas says that Estonia is a “strong supporter” of the EU visa liberalization process with Georgia during a visit to Tbilisi 13 January 2015 Protesters demand Moscow apologize after a Russian soldier is suspected of killing six members of an Armenian family near a Russian military base in the Armenian town of Gyumri 15 January 2015 Protesters demanding the handover of a Russian soldier accused of murdering six members of an Armenian family clash with the police in the Armenian town of Gyumri 16 January 2015 The Georgian Ministry of Energy “strongly” denies remarks by the breakaway region of Abkhazia that talks on the Enguri hydro power plant have taken place with Tbilisi 17 January 2015 The Georgian Orthodox Church calls in a statement for “limits to freedom of expression” in order to protect believers’ rights against insult to religious feelings 20 January 2015 The EU commissioner for European neighborhood policy and enlargement Johannes Hahn opens up the possibility for Armenia to sign an association - 1 - agreement with the EU without its free-trade component after a meeting with Armenian foreign minister Eduard Nalbandian 21 January 2015 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to discuss bilateral ties and energy issues 22 January 2015 Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili meets with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos 23 January 2015 The Russian State Duma ratifies a military agreement signed in November in Sochi between President Vladimir Putin and Abkhazia’s de facto leader Raul Khajimba that Georgia says is illegal 23 January 2015 Georgian Interior Minister Alexander Tchikaidze resigns amid allegations of providing “protection” to two police officers involved in an operation in which two men were killed almost nine years ago 24 January 2015 A package of legislative amendments submitted to the Georgian Parliament criminalizes a wide range of activities related to illegal armed groups abroad, including “travelling abroad for the purpose of terrorism” 25 January 2015 Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius starts an official visit to Georgia to discuss Georgia’s EU and NATO integration during talks with Georgian high officials 26 January 2015 Vakhtang Gomelauri, former deputy Interior Minister, is appointed new Interior Minister in Georgia 27 January 2015 Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says at a press conference after meeting with his Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian in Yerevan that Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union opens new opportunities for Tehran to develop relations with Russia via Armenia 28 January 2015 A bus driver in Baku is hospitalized after setting himself on fire to protest against alleged misconduct by inspectors of the Azerbaijani Transport Ministry 29 January 2015 The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan hold a trilateral meeting in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat to discuss cooperation in transport, including the project of a Afghanistan–Turkmenistan– Azerbaijan–Georgia–Turkey transport link February 2 February 2015 Azerbaijan launches military maneuvers involving 20,000 soldiers amid rising tensions with neighboring Armenia 4 February 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin signs into law the ratification of an “alliance and strategic partnership” treaty between Russia and the breakaway - 2 - region of Abkhazia that is opposed by Tbilisi 5 February 2015 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announces that a dozen NATO allies are supporting the implementation of a package of cooperation with Georgia, including the setting up of a joint training center in Georgia, following a NATO–Georgia Commission meeting in Brussels 5 February 2015 A Baku court finds two Azerbaijani citizens guilty of cooperating with representatives of Iran’s intelligence services and sentences them to jail on the same day 6 February 2015 Russia’s permanent representative at NATO, Alexander Grushko, says that a planned NATO training center in Georgia is a “provocative step” that can damage regional security 8 February 2015 US Vice President Joe Biden meets with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on the sideline of the Munich security conference to discuss relations in energy and security issues with Biden urging Georgia “to keep its focus on democratic reforms” 11 February 2015 Swiss public television reveals that Azerbaijani rights activist Emin Huseynov has been sheltered in the Swiss embassy in Baku since August 2014 11 February 2015 The Georgian Interior Ministry says that the head of administration of supervisory service at the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office has been arrested on bribery charges 13 February 2015 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announces the appointment of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as head of a newly established International Advisory Council on Reforms in Ukraine 13 February 2015 Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu stresses Romania’s support for Georgia’s European and Euro–Atlantic integration during a visit to Tbilisi 16 February 2015 Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian withdraws from parliament protocols on the normalization of ties and establishment of diplomatic relations with Turkey, citing Ankara’s lack of political will 16 February 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide in charge of overseeing relations with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Vladislav Surkov, says during a visit to Abkhazia that despite economic difficulties Moscow does not envisage cutting financial aid to the region 17 February 2015 The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland starts her Caucasus tour in Baku and meets with President Ilham Aliyev to discuss bilateral ties and the situation in the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh 17 February 2015 The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office urges Ukrainian authorities to extradite former President Mikheil Saakashvili to Georgia along with former - 3 - Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili on charges of fraud and abuse of power 18 February 2015 US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland holds talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian in Yereven to discuss bilateral ties, democratic reforms in Armenia and the US role in providing a solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict 18 February 2015 Russia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia sign a border agreement in Moscow opposed by Tbilisi 19 February 2015 Armenian authorities reject claims that no request had been submitted to Moscow to ask for the transfer to an Armenian prison of a Russian soldier accused of having killed seven members of an Armenian family 19 February 2015 The Georgian Prime Minister’s special representative for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, says that Georgia’s cooperation with NATO does not envisage the deployment of any “military infrastructure” by the Alliance on Georgian territory 21 February 2015 The Central Bank of Azerbaijan abruptly devalues the country’s currency, manat, against the dollar and the euro 22 February 2015 Georgian Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili says that the Georgian economy is expected to grow 2–2.5% in 2015 instead of initially forecasted 5% 23 February 2015 The Georgian presidential administration says that Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv and invited him to Georgia 23 February 2015 Authorities in the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh reject the release of two Azerbaijani nationals who were arrested and imprisoned last year on a number of charges, including murder 26 February 2015 Georgian Prime Minister’s special representative for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, and Russian deputy foreign minister, Grigory Karasin, meet in Prague to discuss humanitarian and trade issues as part of bilateral talks between the two countries launched in 2012 26 February 2015 Former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili blames the Central Bank over the depreciation of the national currency lari 27 February 2015 Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta tells his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili at a meeting in Bucharest that Romania is a strong supporter of Georgia’s EU and NATO integration March 2 March 2015 Georgian Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili calls on Russia “to stop its aggressive policies against sovereign states” at the UN Human Rights - 4 - Council in Geneva 4 March 2015 Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko calls on